Calling all Tremonsters!

Please contribute content to our neighborhood-written newspaper in Tremont! The Tremonster — a Tremont neighborhood newspaper written by Tremonsters: anyone who feels a close connection to our shared neighborhood of Tremont in Cleveland, Ohio.

This is a small neighborhood, bursting with diversity and its own unique culture. Tremont is made up of Old World roots, long-standing churches, restaurants, bars, shops, tourist attractions, community spaces, and fascinating people.

This is not to say those who feel a connection to areas outside of Tremont are not fascinating. I first moved into the neighborhood in 1992, and my wife, Amanda, and I bought home and have been Tremont residents for sixteen years. I feel this gives me the authority to say in print what everyone I meet here seems to know is true—there is an additional, invisible community asset here. It’s something beneath the streets from West 25th to MetroHealth, down to the Cuyahoga, and was here long before we were. There is a creative pulse in Tremont that attracts the creative, the gifted, the innovative, the spiritual and the industrious to our neighborhood. That is part of being a Tremonster.

And it’s not easy to get here. You have to get past bridge construction and detours, as much as disturbing misinformation and negative headlines about downtown Cleveland life, but those who don’t get lost or scared away know there’s something special about this place from the first moment they set foot in Tremont. With our physical and headline barriers, one has to be motivated to come here instead of any easier, more homogenized place. Tremonsters have to choose Tremont. That seems to be part of being a Tremonster, too.

There is also a sense of connection here. It’s not just that a panorama of unique, diverse and creative people are drawn to Tremont, but when they come here they find our Old World neighborhood structure and institutions promote conversations and community. Of all things, Tremont specializes in connecting disconnected people with shared interests. I see it every day. This is important as we leap into the Innovation Economy — an economy based on the innovations sparked when people with very different backgrounds and experiences connect and solve a problem in a completely new way. Tremonsters are awfully innovative.

It is therefore completely without bias when I say Tremont is made up of fascinating people. It is fact. Tremont is like no other place in Cleveland…in the world for that matter. Those who are motivated to spend time here have an appreciation for a fascinating place. Considering all the factors that can keep people from coming to our shared neighborhood, it’s difficult to find a Tremonster that is not the very definition of “fascinating.”

In order for this neighborhood newspaper to work, you, Tremonster, must send us material to print. You are a Tremonster, and we will build a stronger, more connected community when we share even our smallest stories with each other. If you are a Tremonster in any way, please send us your content.

We at Cleveland Public Llibrary wonder, if you did a survey of how many people in Tremont use the Tremont library on Jefferson versus how many use the new temporary one on Clark Avenue, what numbers you would find. Our staff thinks most use the Jefferson branch. Are they wrong? We know that the temporary one is too small at least by half, and perhaps your local development groups can help determine if there are historical tax credits available forSouth’s restoration, since Cleveland already has twice as many branches as all other cities our size… and our budget keeps shrinking as Governor decides to cut taxes by 4 percent more in his bid for re-election. Hopefully residents will come to the neighborhood meeting scheduled.